


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Stephen and Thelonious

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Disability, Disabled Character, Gen, Physical Disability, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 02:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18022895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: Natasha had put Stephen Strange near the top of her list because she figured the man didn’t have anywhere near as much or as good of a support system as many of the Avengers had. He spent a lot of time working alone, and while he claimed he preferred it that way, Natasha could see the tense body language he always arrived with, the way that he relaxed the more time he spent at the tower.Learning about the car accident was a simple matter of searching Stephen’s name online and reading the news stories. He had been a famous, affluent doctor after all; it wasn’t hard to find news about him, even from before the accident. So when she reads about the damage done to his hands, she assumes that it probably still bothers him from time to time, even if he’s found a way to cope with it; Tony’s the same way about the arc reactor, even though he no longer truly needs it.





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Stephen and Thelonious

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the series, or if you're new here, welcome! This part of the series includes some potentially triggering descriptions of the injuries from Stephen Strange's car accident. They're not incredibly graphic, but they are there. If you'd like to avoid those descriptions, they are in the paragraph that's entirely in italics. Please be safe. Otherwise, enjoy!

Natasha had put Stephen Strange near the top of her list because she figured the man didn’t have anywhere near as much or as good of a support system as many of the Avengers had. He spent a lot of time working alone, and while he claimed he preferred it that way, Natasha could see the tense body language he always arrived with, the way that he relaxed the more time he spent at the tower.

 

Learning about the car accident was a simple matter of searching Stephen’s name online and reading the news stories. He had been a famous, affluent doctor after all; it wasn’t hard to find news about him, even from before the accident. So when she reads about the damage done to his hands, she assumes that it probably still bothers him from time to time, even if he’s found a way to cope with it; Tony’s the same way about the arc reactor, even though he no longer truly needs it.

 

She chooses a reputable breeder from Kentucky, flies out and picks the puppy she wants, then comes home with the little Great Dane puppy, searching online for names and settling on Thelonious, “ruler of the people.” It’s a suitably pretentious name for a man whose reputation used to be entirely based on his pretentiousness. Natasha has a feeling the name will at the very least make Stephen laugh.

 

Thelonious grows quickly; he’s beautiful, with a dark grey, almost black coat and white patches on his chest and paws, and no matter what position he’s in, laying, sitting, or standing, he looks strong, smart, and proud. He learns his tasks quickly, even picking up on some of the other dogs’ tasks just by watching.

 

He lives to work, and on the few days Natasha had taken a break from training, Thelonious had looked positively distraught, wandering in circles around her until she finally gave him things to do. Natasha starts teaching him tricks just to keep him occupied, things that are fun, time-consuming, but also productive.

 

Natasha teaches Thelonious to open and close doors, cabinets, drawers, and windows, to turn lights on and off, to carry things both in his mouth and in his vest pockets, to pick up various objects off the ground, and to bring Natasha his own leash and collar when it’s time to go outside, among other things. He learns each task as quickly and faithfully as the last, and Natasha is genuinely amazed by his working drive.

 

She doesn’t start him on any of his mobility tasks until he’s old enough and he’s been cleared by his veterinarians, but once she starts teaching him those tasks, he learns them easily too. She asks Tony to help design Thelonious’ gear, and a day later he’s handing her what looks like a larger version of a compartmentalized jewelry box, Diva trotting happily at his side.

 

“So, there’s a few options there for Strange to choose from. There’s a heavier duty mobility harness that can accommodate some packs, packs included. There’s a wheelchair pulling harness, in case he gets pain in more than just his hands and wants to rest more. A saddlebag cape and bracing harness, a grocery carrying vest, a backpack vest, and mesh versions of the backpack and grocery carrying vests and the saddlebag cape. Is that good enough? I thought about designing something that would let Thelonious pull Strange without Strange needing to use his hands but still walking, but I wasn’t sure,” Tony rambles, and Natasha smiles, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 

“That’s awesome, I’m sure he’ll love all of it. Thank you.” She takes the box from him, and then he’s gone, Diva following him, leaving Natasha to look through the box. She settles on the mobility harness with the packs. The mobility harness is made of dark red biothane with gold hardware, with a raised handle on the top, and the packs fit around the handle, clipping to the sides of the harness to hold them in place.

 

The packs are navy blue with velcro and emerald green trim, and Natasha almost wants to roll her eyes at the fact that Tony had matched Thelonious' gear perfectly with Strange’s usual superhero outfit. Natasha finds a section of the box that has patches, and laughs at a couple of them, because of course Tony would make the puns “Time For You To Leave Us Alone” and “Staring is Strange (and Unappreciated).”

 

Natasha sets up the patches on Thelonious’ gear, gets Thelonious geared up, and then texts Stephen to come meet her at the tower, having Thelonious practice some of his commands while they wait.

 

Stephen shows up about an hour later, complaining about unnecessary paperwork, and stops abruptly when he sees Thelonious holding a down-stay at Natasha’s feet. “What’s happening here?” he asks, and Natasha stands, Thelonious standing with her.

 

“Strange, this is Thelonious. Thelonious, Strange. He’s a service dog for you, if you like him.”

 

Stephen shakes his head, even as he takes a step forward to get a better look at Thelonious’ gear. “I don’t need a service dog, as it happens, I’m a perfectly capable human being,” Strange says, but he’s already running a shaky hand over Thelonious’ head.

 

“Do you think Tony’s incapable?”

 

Stephen stiffens at the question, glaring at Natasha. “No, I don’t, I think he’s perfectly competent, better than just competent, in fact.”

 

“Then why is it okay for him to have a service dog, but not you?” she asks, and she watches Stephen try and fail to come up with a good reason, still petting Thelonious probably without even realizing it.

 

“And what is a dog supposed to do for me? I don’t think a dog can fix a problem that no specialist across the entire world could fix.”

 

“No, he won’t fix your hands, but he can help you carry things, retrieve things, open and close doors, turn lights on and off, do small things so that you can take a break, let yourself rest occasionally. You don’t always just have to power through things, you can let someone help you, let Thelonious help you.”

 

Stephen just sighs. “Fine, I have a feeling you’re going to push for me to take the dog anyway. I’ll take him home with me. But if it doesn’t work out, I’m going to give him back to you.”

 

“I wouldn’t expect any different.”

 

Stephen leaves with Thelonious beside him, and Natasha flops on the couch with a groan. She knew the guy thought a lot of himself, but she didn’t realize just how hard it was for him to lower his guard. At this point, she might become a professional therapist just from trying to get the heroes around her to accept the help they deserve.

 

* * *

 

When Stephen and Thelonious arrive at the New York City Sanctum location, Stephen collapses into his office chair, closing his eyes and just taking a minute to breathe. He has a lot of paperwork to finish, and he really doesn’t want to, but it’s not like he has much of a choice. He rests there with his eyes closed until a wet nose bumps his hand, and he opens his eyes, glaring at Thelonious.

 

“Romanoff really got you roped into this, huh? And now you’re stuck here. You can go home soon, though, I’m sure she’ll have someone else that can take care of you.” The dog just watches him talk, tail wagging calmly. Ignoring the fact that he just talked to a dog, Stephen sits up, getting back to work.

 

He’s almost done with everything when his hands start to shake and he drops the pen he was using. Usually he has it under control, but sometimes he’s just too tired, or he’s having vivid nightmares, and he can’t focus enough to keep his hands steady. He stares at his hands, tries to will them to stop shaking, but he can’t, and it’s too much, he’s too tired to handle this right now. He starts slipping into flashbacks before he can even process it.

 

_He’s hooked up to all kinds of monitors and equipment, pins in his hands, casts over his arms and legs, a heart monitor beeping behind him, an IV slowly dripping painkillers into his system. He keeps staring at his hands, because they’re mangled, bloody and ruined and he’ll never be able to operate again, he knows that, he knows it like he knows the artist, album, and release year of almost every song he hears, but he doesn’t want to believe it, he can’t believe it, because his job is everything to him, being a doctor is his whole life, he can’t just lose that now…_

 

When Stephen comes back out of the flashbacks, he’s fallen to the floor, chest heaving with panic, and there’s this heavy, comforting weight across his legs that turns out to be the dog, laying across his lap and watching his face. As soon as Thelonious sees that Stephen is out of the flashback, he’s standing, nudging at Stephen’s side and walking back and forth from Stephen to the doorway.

 

“Do you need to go outside?” The words come out partially slurred, Stephen’s brain still trying to catch up from the phantom pains and the last remnants of emotions and memories. He tries to stand, but his legs start to buckle, and before he knows it the dog is back at Stephen’s side, standing perfectly still like he’s waiting for a command.

 

He’s not exactly sure what the dog’s commands are, he hadn’t bothered to ask Natasha, but he assumes the dog will know what to do, so he grabs the handle of the dog’s harness with one hand and his desk with the other and pushes himself onto his feet, leaning on both the table and the dog for support.

 

Once he’s standing, Thelonious walks with him slowly to the doorway, and Stephen points them down the hall to his room. He lays down on his bed, and Thelonious disappears, coming back again with a bottle of water. “Now how did you find the kitchen so fast?” Stephen asks him, fully aware that he’s not going to get a response as he takes the water bottle, taking a few sips and then dropping his head back down onto his pillow. The dog lays down beside his bed, drifting off to sleep, and Stephen sighs. “Fine. I’ll ask Natasha what your commands are tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

Stephen does, in fact, go back to talk to Natasha, and he takes Thelonious with him back to the tower. Natasha smiles when he asks her what Thelonious’ commands are, and she walks him through each of them, including the various tricks to help keep Thelonious occupied. She also gives him the box of gear Tony had made, describing each piece of gear and how it works, and he’s momentarily blown away by how dedicated Natasha and Tony have become to this idea.

 

Natasha walks home with him to help him carry all of the service dog gear and other dog-related necessities, and Stephen’s certain he saw a smug look on her face when she caught him petting Thelonious on the way home (so sue him. He’s a surgeon, not an asshole. Dogs need love and attention. So what.)

**Author's Note:**

> Your service dog facts of the day!
> 
> -So, there's a distinction sometimes made in the service dog community between "work" and "task." In this distinction, "task" is defined as something the dog is trained to do when given a conscious cue by the handler, such as a handler saying "push" so their dog will push the accessible door button. "Work" would be defined as something the dog is trained to do in response to some kind of stimuli, such as a seizure alert dog pawing at their handler when they detect a seizure coming. While not all handlers will distinguish between work and tasks, both types of actions are considered "tasks" under the ADA's definition of a "disability-mitigating task."
> 
> -There's also a few things that service dogs are commonly taught that don't strictly fall under the category of a task, but are no less important. "Intelligent disobedience" is one of those things. Intelligent disobedience means the dog disregards the command of the handler to perform their job successfully. For example, when I'm having a panic attack or a PTSD anger outburst, I often try to push others, including my service dog in training, away. However, rather than going away, my service dog in training will continue interacting with me and trying to perform deep pressure therapy, even if I tell him to get off or go away.
> 
> -On the topic of deep pressure therapy: yes, this is a task. No, it's not the same as just cuddling your dog. Deep pressure therapy has been proven to help with pain, panic attacks, flashbacks, sensory overload, and more. Properly done, this is absolutely a task, however, it is often debated in service dog communities as to whether or not it should constitute as a "real" task. I firmly believe that if it helps mitigate the symptoms of the handler's disability, it should be counted as a task. You will find that almost every service dog in this series knows this task, and they use it in varying situations depending on the handler's needs.
> 
> -Back to things service dogs know: another thing that is typically expected of service dogs is independent tasking or independent thinking. This means that sometimes, the service dog will act of their own accord to help the handler. You can see this in this part of the series when Stephen comes back to awareness after the flashback and Thelonious is walking to and from the door, when Thelonious goes back to Stephen's side to help him stand, and when Thelonious leaves Stephen in bed to get him water. Because Stephen didn't know Thelonious' commands himself, and therefore didn't ask for those behaviors, those are all behaviors that Thelonious offered on his own, showing that Thelonious was capable of acting on his own to try and help his handler.
> 
> -Also, you see Thelonious in this story constantly trying to do some kind of task. This is because he has a very high working drive! The amount of working drive varies from dog to dog, but every dog that becomes a service dog has at least a decent amount of working drive, otherwise they would not be asked to work. If a dog isn't happy doing service dog work, they're either washed out while in training or retired from working. Service dogs should love what they do.
> 
> -My last service dog fact for you is that sometimes, service dogs can be washed out or retired for having too much working drive too! There's a story I've seen a few times on the internet about a service dog in training that was washed out because he knew all of his tasks, but he would just do them at random too because he wanted to, including constantly turning lights in the house on and off without being asked to. Working drive is great in service dogs, but they also have to do it reliably on command, not just whenever.
> 
> And with that, I hope you enjoyed this part of the series!! As always, if you'd like to see more drabbles related to the series or you'd like to talk to me about this series (or anything else, for that matter), you can find me on tumblr [ here ](https://servicedogsforsuperheroes.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
